July 02--Energy BBDO, the Chicago advertising agency that created the "Up for Whatever" Super Bowl campaign for Bud Light, is down for the count after losing the business to Wieden + Kennedy in New York.
Anheuser-Busch confirmed Thursday that it is switching agencies for Bud Light in a bid to take the top-selling beer brand in the U.S. to "new heights."
"As Bud Light's creative approach -- and our consumer -- continues to evolve, the time is right to make a change," Jorn Socquet, vice president of marketing for Anheuser-Busch, said in a statement.
Bud Light had worked with BBDO for two years, primarily through its Chicago office. Creative responsibilities migrated to New York this spring, an agency spokeswoman said. Launched during the 2014 Super Bowl, the "Up for Whatever" campaign has been targeting millennials with over-the-top experiential elements incorporated in the advertising.
For this year's Super Bowl broadcast, Bud Light created a larger-than-life Pac-Man game in downtown Los Angeles, filming a surprised customer's journey through the maze. The long-running spot had several Chicago tie-ins, with agency Mosaic orchestrating the event and Glenview-based Dimension Design building the massive 81-by-73-foot maze.
Socquet praised the work as "groundbreaking," citing two successful Super Bowl campaigns and saying Bud Light and BBDO were parting ways on a "high note."
That may be of little consolation to BBDO. Bud Light spends more than $300 million annually on advertising in the U.S., according to sources, making it a big loss for the agency.
"BBDO will no longer be working on Bud Light in the U.S.," Andrew Robertson, president and CEO of BBDO Worldwide, said in a statement. "We gave it our best shot, and I would like to thank all of our people who worked so energetically and diligently on this business over the past two years. We did some work we are proud of, and wish our Bud Light clients and their new agency partner well."
News of the agency change was first reported by Adweek.
rchannick@tribpub.com
